That being said, Hae-Hyuk, just like the others, was well-aware that whatever they said and did couldn't truly impact the success of the champions. It could prevent them from a bad end, yes, in exchange for something. But they had no way to help them win. They could only keep on watching over them and praying to the heavens to be on their side.

Jin was relatively lucky as there were no traps or monsters planted by other champions in the snowy area that he was in. Others weren't as lucky. Many were now facing the giant elemental spiritual beasts while being exhausted by the surrounding chaotic element. It was tough to fight and defeat such a monster for them. While it was restricted to a spiritual energy akin to that of the 9th stage of spiritual accumulation, the addition of an element changed a lot. While all the champions had their means and specialties, they believed it was too early to use their trump cards yet were faced with little to no other options.

Still, this wasn't always enough.

Only through destructing the beast core could they effectively take down those monsters. It wasn't easy. The elemental beasts were literally at home. How could they find a small core the size of a hand hidden somewhere in a giant's body like that? There were no clues to find the cores. They couldn't completely exhaust the element forming the spiritual beast either. In the end, most of the cultivators facing these beasts were stuck with them and tied down, unable to proceed forward.

Of course, there were also the faster ones who dodged that trap or planted it. In fact, the dragons themselves had reached the bridges. As they exited their respective areas, they saw not far from them a bridge made of pure white bricks. It was the only link to the next step in this trial. Under the bridge was an abyss from which they couldn't see the bottom and ahead was a strange mist blocking their sight. They couldn't see past a meter further than the bridge's entrance.

That being said, they didn't need more. They were both confident in their speed and didn't have the slightest worry that someone else was already on the bridge in front of them. After all, the bridges would only disappear after someone crossed it. And they couldn't see the end of it. It would be tragic to walk on a bridge where someone was already ahead. It would be a dramatic end.

Anyways, both dragons didn't care about that, they didn't need to. They both proceeded to run across the one closest to them. As they moved, the mist moved along, embracing them inside itself.

It wasn't that long. Only around a hundred meters. They crossed it in seconds and reached the other end. As they stepped off from it and walked once more on the rocky ground, the bridge began to fade into non-existence in a rain of glitters. As they turned around, there no longer was a bridge.

Only 30 spots left.

Since there was nothing of interest behind them, they looked back towards the front. They could see the mountain cliff. It seemed to be something tough to scale though as cultivators, it shouldn't prove too hard. The mist that surrounded the cliff might be a slight disturbance but not much either.

They walked towards the cliff and ended up finding a giant five meters tall and wide-open entrance into the insides of the mountain. There was also a hourglass next to the entrance. Used to it, they calculated from the speed of the sand as it fell and the quantity of it that this was the representation of the time left before the death mist reached the place. There was still some time. They were safe from this threat. Even they would end up dying if that thing reached them.

they moved to the cliff, ignoring the entrance and tried to climb. As soon as they scaled a few meters, they felt a powerful pressure. It was so intense that they ended up forced to back down. They couldn't push upwards with their current abilities. Both of them, while far from one another, had the same reaction. They turned towards the gaping hole into the mountain and walked through it. Since they couldn't climb up from the outside, it was likely to be done from the inside.

As they entered, candles began to light up on both sides of the area, illuminating the darkness and enabling them to have a good look at this place. It was an empty hall except for the candles placed on the walls. There were, however, a few sentences written on the wall opposite the entrance. It read:

"Congratulations on reaching this far. A new choice is offered to you: to give up or challenge forward. If you wish to give up, exit the cavern. If you wish to proceed, wait inside until the time comes"

There were no more indications about what would happen but every champion was aware of the next trial. It would be a competition in endurance. Both dragon sentients had no reasons to give up. They sat facing the entrance and began to rest. They would fill the lacking spiritual energy naturally until the time came. This was a privilege earned by the fastest to get here.

...

They were the first ones to cross a bridge for sure, but far from the last ones. The next to exit the three-elemental areas was the gold tiger sentient. He didn't see a bridge in front of him though and ended up forced to run around the mountain for a moment to get to one. Once he found it, he crossed over and reached the cliff as well. He didn't try to climb the outside but went straight inside the cavern in front of the bridge he crossed and sat there to rest.

Just like the dragons, he planned to go for the win. And no one would rebuke him for considering himself a contender. He had the might to be one.